Most Helpful Customer Reviews

This series had a variety of unique features, a great cast, chemisrty, on, under & over the top plots, infuriating personalities, Bulldog the sports announcer & sexist twit with few positives, & very endearing ones Frasier, who makes a mess of things{especially his dealings with women} yet you root for him because he keeps trying.

Frasier Crane a psychologist played by the enigmatic Kelsey Grammer has moved from Boston back to his hometown of rainy Seattle to take a job as a radio psychologist. In supporting roles are the great David Hyde Pierce as the even more finicky picky brother of Frasier who is also a shrink. He in my opinion steals more scenes than the rest of the cast members combined. Picture a very hyper "Felix Unger," & you will see how over the top Niles Crane truly is. The brothers cranky but common sense father, is played by John Mahoney, who gives his exasperating sons sound advice that they rarely take. His flaky English live in caretaker{Daphney Moon}, is the wickedly funny Jane Leeves. Frasier's hard bitten, man crazy co-worker Roz is played by Peri Gilpin. The exchanges between her & snooty Frasier are classic.

For me this was the best season of the whole series, the stories had plenty of variety without the usual predictability that so many shows quickly adopt. The cast had chemistry from the very begining. The relationships between the urbane brothers with its sibling rivalry & their relationship with their very provincial father was totally new on TV.

I can't remember anything involving sons & their father that was like this testy trio??? The latter were the heart & soul of the show. The best three episodes to my recollection were "The Good Son, Dinner At Eight, & My Coffe With Niles." Buy this one, you will laugh until it hurts.

I found myself a while back with a gift certificate in hand and nothing in sight on which to spend it. I chanced upon a copy of Frasier's first season on sale and, since I had always liked it when I had watched it sporadically throughout the years, I went ahead and bought it. I am glad I did. Frasier is an intelligent sitcom alternative for those disillusioned with the crap you so often see on other comedy shows. It has incredibly talented actors, the best writing on TV (this was before Aaron Sorkin came on the scene, anyway), and its blend of family and workplace comedy allowed the show to try out many things, which meant that things never got boring.The leads and supporting cast are uniformly excellent. Grammer is one of the best comic actors ever and he is always great in his signature role. David Hyde Pierce steals many scenes as Frasier's uptight, snobbish brother Niles. John Mahoney's Martin often plays the straight man to Niles' and Frasier's antics, but he has perhaps the best dry humor of anyone in the cast. Jane Leeves and Peri Gilpin both brighten up the show as Daphne and Roz, respectively. One of the strengths of the show, though, is the strength of the supporting cast. I personally love the character of Bulldog, the grating, cheuvenist sports show host. Gil Chesterton is also featured in one episode of the first season, his character is the hilarious but devious food critic. Frasier's manipulative agent Bebe shows up here, as does Lilith, and both are fabulous. Simply put, the support cast is so strong the cast can feel like an ensemble at times.Read more ›

For those of us who love sophisicated, urbane comedy, Frasier has been our lightning rod for the last ten years. Far better than its predecessor, Cheers, it almost harkens back to its spiritual predecessor in Jack Benny. (It was no accident that Kelsey Grammer hosted a prime-time retrospective on the comedy of Benny.)The merits of this show are almost too numerous to mention in a short review, but let's start with the cast. A strong group of ensemble players who are given free reign by the star (most refreshing that Grammer is not tempted to hog the limelight when confronted by this group) to define AND broaden their characters. No one remains static.I realize that to go on is only to continue preaching to the choir. Those who have seen the show know all about it. Even those who have not seen the show have more than an inkling of what it's about. So let me now give you the most compelling reason to buy this DVD:The only way to see the first season as it now stands is to watch it in reruns on various television stations. One also realizes on second or third viewing that more and more of the show is disappearing into the sea as more time is allotted for commercials. If you want to see it UNCUT and COMMERCIAL FREE at any time anywhere there's a DVD player and television handy, this is the only way you will ever be able to achieve that goal, and for fans of Frasier, it is a goal more than worth the money.

I am a big fan of the show and not much can be said that hasn't already been said about the shows themselves. I just wanted to comment specifically on the DVD presentation. The picture quality is average - maybe this has to do with the source materal but I was not blown away by the clarity. The sound is fine but seems to be louder than other DVDs - I have to set the volume down on my TV compared to most movies. Maybe this is something to do with my particular DVD player?The discs are light on extras - most notably, the DVD is missing a "play all" feature - you have to go to the remote to start every episode. I would like to see this feature in the next release.